Expanded Baucus Leaders Cohort Heading to D.C. for Summer Internships

April 19, 2019

MISSOULA – After a competitive application process, 11 University of Montana students were selected as 2019 Baucus Leaders.

Thanks to a generous gift from the Washington Foundation, the new cohort is more than double last year’s. Each student will receive a stipend to defray their airfare and living expenses as they spend the summer in Washington, D.C., interning with legislative and agency offices.

“If you look at their bios,” said Ambassador Max Baucus, “you’ll see that these students are truly outstanding.”

The Baucus Leaders program is provided by the University’s Max Baucus Institute, which recognizes that public service experience inspires students to engage in meaningful work to benefit society. The work of the institute is an extension of the important bipartisan, consensus-building public service Baucus exemplified during his long and distinguished career as a U.S. senator and ambassador to China.

“I cannot imagine a more fitting way to highlight the critical need for young people to engage in public service than our Baucus Leaders program,” said Professor Sam Panarella, director of the Baucus Institute. “These students represent the best and brightest our state has to offer, and I am incredibly excited to watch them grow as scholars and people through this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

This year’s Baucus Leaders include UM undergraduate students from a variety of majors, as well as UM graduate students from the law and Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs. The Baucus Leaders are:

Ethan Holmes from Helena, an undergraduate studying Russian, history and political science. Holmes will intern for Sen. Steve Daines.

Daniel Parsons from Florence, a junior studying economics and political science. Parsons with intern with Sen. Jon Tester.